Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-06-06
A LEAK IN A "DOBY.'
WHAT TO DO WHEN RAIN COMES
THROUGH THE CEILING.
How the Roof of the Dwelling is Mend.
ed Ia New Mexico-A Bent Pin, Some
fh,. Ru.in,sk

Twine and u Bit Of Broom Handi. DO
the Business.
| When the roof Of your ''doby' leaks in
| in this territory the native can always
remedy the trouble with bent pin. ten
| feet of twiue and a bit of a broom handle
| If the ceiling of any room becomes dis
| Colorcd with smoke or otherwise loses the
white purity which must always distin-
| guish the interior of "A room for rent, -
| the same native has a remedy which Is as
| effective aS il j. novel. He takes down
! the ceiling, puts il in the washtub. and
! after thoroughly cleansing il restores il to
| its proper position. As leaks in roofs
| necessarily have Il close connection with
room ceilings, simultaneously gained my
knowledge of both occult remedies during
rain storm the other night.
When came here | fuund that nine
| tenths of the population lived in rented
rooms, and that must do likewise, un-
! less | wanted To pay $3.50 per week for
| board. 80 hired "A spotlcssiy white room
in DOLBY and went 10 bed in one corner
| of it, without thinking for an instant that
| | would be inConveuienced by the heavy
| rain storm prevailing. | changed my
mind about midnight, when n stream of
water Npl htl lis WAY tITpuAn tnt
roof and dropped squarely down on my
! head rs lay sleeping i'll bed. got up at
| once and prosecuted u search for match,
| while another stream played on my back
! lighted my lamp. and then saw that
| about dozen streams were coming
through the ceiling. As my room opened
on the road. after the manner of all MeXi-
can dohics. | was compelled to dress my
IL ,,.,,
and go ont into the storm To gel into the
/ ucXt room, where my aged and Celtic
landlady repoSed.
An has that roof bruk loose agins
Well. now. jest wait brace q minnits
till get sor.le clothes on. an I'll COON to
ye, she said, as she opened her door in
response 10 my eNasperated knocks. In
four minutes she emerged into the storm,
carrying two lamps. and rushed into my
room. First she lighted all the lamps
and put them around the room SO she
could see well 10 do the work ahead. A
glance at the scene of action. a vigorous
oath and plunge at the bed followed in
quick succession. She put the foot tub to
catch the stream of water that was wet
ting the he'd clothing, glared at me re-
prnachfully and then went 10 work.
From the bottom of the washStand She
brought forth a string and about three
feet of an old broom handle. The articles,
il seems are always kept ready for uSe in
every dohy house in New Mexico Drag
ging the table 10 the center Of the room
my landladv put a chair on it and said
with husin,s like sharpness:
Now, Young man, S'puse YOU jest turn
your back around entOirely.'
faced about and the lady scrambled to
the table and thence To the chair, comfort
ably assured that had not caught a
glimpse Of her venerable ankIes When
looked slyly over my shoulder she was
bending a pin al right angles between her
teeth Then she tied the string to the pin
and reached up Ia the ceiling and stuck the
pin in. | was startled To see the ceiling
bulge downward, and then for the first
time perceiN ed that, instead of being white
plaster as 1 had supposed il was Of white
muslin Having attached the pin So that
1t would not slip, the landlady leaped
down with the other end Of the string i'll
her hand. To this end she fastened the
piece Of broom handle, and left it swaying
gently before my eyes.
Needless of my questions. she seized a
broom ami went around the room gazing
critically at the ceiling Here and there
were little blister like protuberances,
where the water had accumulated in little
pockets. Each Of these the woman pushed
upward until the water ran toward the
lower level around the point where the pin
penetrated the muslin ceiling. The weight
of the wooden stick on the end of the
string. uf course, pulled the muslin down
ward, making a hollow over the center IF
the room large enough to accommodate all
the little pockets. When the water had
thus been accumulated in the central
reservoir | saw small stream flowing
from the end Of the swaying broom stick
''-All the water Will run down TO the pin
now, me dear, and thin down the string
TO the broom handle and thin down the
broom handle TO this bucket, and thin
you'll hav no more trouble ef You'll list
keep away entoirely from against the
bucket announced the woman, oracu-
larly
II was even SO. When she had put dry
clothing on my bed and left me turned
in again and went To sleep in comfort
under a roof that was full Of holes In
the morning the bucket placed just under
the pendant broom was full of water,
but the room was thoroughly dry.
BY daybreak it cleared up and the
woman's man was shoveling an extra
cart load OF earth on the roof of my room.
Now, Peter, -" / heard her call to him,
''jist take and sow half a bushel o grass
seed there. so that we will have fresh
sod before the next rain comes
Peter sowed the grass seed while Peters
wife took down the muslin which had
been pasted around the edges of the cell
ing. She took it away and washed it,
"A l.,.f,, ., /,
and tackled ii into position When |
asked why ii was not dried before being
put up, she said that il was desirable to
have it wet, SO that when it dried the
shrinkage would make it taut An
enormous fire dried my ceiling until it
was a. white and smooth as the plaster OF
an eastern dOmicile.
The landlady put away the pin and
string and bit of broom handle in the
bottom of my wasbstand and said respect
fully:
"Now, then, young man. if things
spring a leak agin you tend TO EN- your
self an don't come arter me alters
show strangers how to stop leak once.
bnt charges extra if they comes arter
me twict.'
IN two weeks there was an elegant
green sward on my roof. The roots OF the
rank grass form such a compact network
that II takes a very heavy storm TO wash
away enough earth to admit water into
the :oOm underneath. For this reason
have escaped Il second ducking and have
had no occasion To try my prentice hand
with the pin and ring-Santa Fe Cor.
New York sun.
at N..,x
The street bows are a neruIiar class